Firstly is the agreed re-profiling of last year’s additional £100million borrowing by the NI Executive from the UK Government, and its extension by another £30million, to cover 2014-15, 2015-16 and 2016-17.

81. The feasibility of establishing US immigration, customs and agricultural pre-clearance at Belfast International Airport has now been explored. A number of significant issues have been identified including the minimum threshold of 400,000 passengers per annum on US flights at a specific airport before pre-clearance will be considered by the US authorities. Belfast International falls below this threshold with current passenger volumes on US flights in the region of 100,000 per annum.

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment officials in her Department have made of the feasibility of establishing US immigration, customs and agricultural pre-clearance at Belfast International Airport. [202092]

Karen Bradley:Officials have made no such assessment, but would do so if this were requested by Belfast International Airport. [added emphasis]

The executive wants to be able to reduce the tax rate to 12.5% to match the Republic of Ireland.

European rules mean that Stormont would have to compensate the Treasury for any tax reduction.

This would require them to hand back a portion of its annual budget.

The ‘economic pact’ update said more work needs to be carried out to consider “the adjustments to the block grant that would be required if devolution was to proceed”.

A more accurate assessment might be that OFMDFM have failed to agree a “cost” which doesn’t fall foul of EU regulations on regional aid – which would result in further fines. But the previously estimated cost was £400 million per year.

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the current value is of all financial penalties imposed on the Northern Ireland Executive as a result of that body not implementing the Government’s welfare reform policy. [201864]

Danny Alexander: I wrote to the Northern Ireland Minister for Finance and Personnel on 31 March to set out that that the Northern Ireland Executive’s funding allocations would be reduced by £13 million, £87 million and £114 million for 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. [added emphasis]

You may, or may not, wish to employ the NI Executive’s triple-counting approach to calculating that overall bill…

[Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan]: “While local disposable income has increased by approximately £4 per week in the last year the proposed welfare cuts would not only wipe out this meagre increase but plunge people even further into abject poverty.

“This is why Sinn Féin will continue to oppose the introduction of welfare cuts which are part of the right wing Tory/DUP austerity agenda. [added emphasis]

Similarly with the introduction of welfare reform there are some more rational and sensible individuals within Sinn Fein who recognise the policy is not a creation of Stormont, but comes to us from Westminster. Beneficial amendments have been sought and granted thanks to the work of Social Development Minister Nelson McCausland.

However, despite some within Sinn Fein privately making it clear that they know the hugely detrimental impact that not proceeding with welfare reform will have, there are others holding them back because they are not prepared to act like any other normal political party.

It is very clear that for some time dissenting voices within Sinn Fein and within republicanism have been growing louder. The increasingly hysterical comments lashing out at anyone within unionism appears to be Martin McGuinness’s way of reassuring a troubled base that all is well in the project towards a united Ireland.

Instead of directing these tirades at unionism its time that Sinn Fein admitted to their own ranks that decisions on things like welfare reform and the National Crime Agency are the new reality. Unfortunately however, unless a decision has some direct bearing on a small republican clique what little ability there was for some within Sinn Fein to take sensible decisions appears to have been all but removed. [added emphasis throughout]

Speaking on BBC NI’s The View on Thursday night, Mr Robinson said a deal had been agreed by himself and Mr McGuinness last May, but the deputy first minister could not sell it to his party.

“I feel let down,” Mr Robinson said.

“We are elected to do a job, we took on that responsibility, that responsibility goes beyond being able to open nice new buildings and hearing the applause from the people for the benefits that might be derived from that.

“It also goes to making hard decisions that are not always popular.”

Mr Robinson said that Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams had a very negative influence on the party’s team in the Northern Ireland Executive.

“I know the slowdown that is taking place in terms of getting decisions taken because the decisions that we might take might cause difficulties for Gerry Adams and his colleagues in the Dáil,” he said.